Another sparkling knock of 89 not out by Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar helped his side recover from a jittery start and post a challenging 174 for 5, batting first against Rajasthan Royals. And, with the batsmen from the latter side hell-bent on committing hara-kiri, the Mumbai bowlers did not have to shed much sweat for a comprehensive win.

As many as three Royals’ batsmen ran themselves out, something which definitely would not have pleased the Sunday night crowd at Jaipur. The innings continued to stumble along as no partnerships were built and, eventually, Rajasthan lost by a disappointing margin of 37 runs.

The story of the match was the innings of one man versus the rest on a difficult pitch for the batsmen. And that man was, guess who, Sachin Tendulkar. After winning the toss and electing to field, Rajasthan were off to the best of starts, all thanks to Shane Watson, who bounced out two Mumbai batsmen.

Both Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary were found out as Watson gave them the chin music. Before that though, he got the all important scalp of Sanath Jayasuriya for 1. The politician from Sri Lanka, who was recalled after being made to sit out for a few games, punched one tentatively to end his short stay at the crease.

Mumbai were in all sorts of trouble at 30 for 3, when JP Duminy joined Sachin. The left-hander from South Africa gave ample support to his skipper as they went about rebuilding the innings.

While Sachin went for the big strokes, Duminy ensured that he gave his captain most of the strike. Sachin was in his elements throughout his knock, but his much-awaited tussle with opposite number Shane Warne was the highlight of the game.

Even after all these years, the Mumbai bomber showed scant respect to the legendary spinners. He charged down the track and hit Warne inside out more than once. And when Warne pitched one short, he had the answer ready with his cut.

Although Duminy left Sachin with the score on 93, Sachin continued to blaze away. He slammed Siddharth Trivedi for two mighty sixes in the last over of the innings as Mumbai ended their innings on a high.

There was nothing noteworthy in Rajasthan’s batting effort. Michael Lumb began with two crispy boundaries, but Dhawal Kulkarni had his revenge pretty soon when he had him caught by Duminy.

Naman Ojha did nothing wrong to get dismissed for a duck. He was at the receiving end of an unplayable outswinger from Zaheer Khan, which he somehow managed to nick. What followed next was bizarre, to put it lightly, as three consecutive wickets fell to run-outs.

Shane Watson was the first victim, and the most crucial one at that. Faiz Fazal had run halfway down the pitch, leaving Watson with no option but to respond to his call. Fazal, himself, was the next victim, not knowing where to go. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, who batted well for his 22 until then, was beaten by a strong throw from Tiwary.

By the time Yusuf Pathan came into bat, the score read a miserable 62 for 5. Rajasthan needed well over 100 runs at better than 12 runs per over. On his day, it would have been a cakewalk for Pathan. But, this was Sachin’s day.

And so, he fell without contributing much as the script got murkier for Rajasthan. Aditya Dole and Abhishek Raut struck some lusty blows towards the end. All that did though was reduce the victory margin.

The inability of Sachin Tendulkar to continue his innings after the first strategic break, owing to poor health conditions, dented Mumbai Indians so badly that they collapsed embarrassingly in their chase of 166 against the Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk.

Eventually, they fell way short of the target and lost by a disappointing 24-run margin. But, the game turned when Ambati Rayudu replaced Sachin at the beginning of the 10th over. Mumbai crumbed from 62 for 1 to 89 for 7 in no time. And even though Sachin returned to bat after that, the game was already out of Mumbai’s grasp. The heartbroken skipper himself fell for a valiant 45.

While MS Dhoni’s men should be credited for their superlative comeback, it has to be said that Mumbai kicked themselves in the foot. Some of the shots they played were completely inexplicable, and that is to say the least. Rayudu began ‘mission catastrophe’ when he blindly charged down the pitch to Suresh Raina and was stumped by yards by Dhoni.

What was to follow wasn’t any better. Dwayne Bravo tried to breakfree against Thilan Thushara before getting his eye in and had to return disappointed, while Saurabh Tiwary threw his hand away after eating up 18 balls for 14.

All this was happening whilst Chennai bowlers were struggling to even grip the ball properly. There was dew on the ground right from the start of the game and, as expected, it got much worse in the second half.

As such, Mumbai had everything going for them – they weren’t chasing a big score and, under the conditions, the ball wasn’t going to do much.All Mumbai had to do was to bat sensibly to achieve the target. Instead, they seemed hell-bent on committing hara-kiri.

After the loss of wickets in a heap, here was one great opportunity for big-hitting Kieron Pollard and R. Sathish to stand up and be counted. They also preferred to join the mess though. One has to acclaim that Pollard’s cheap dismissal was the product for an unbelievable catch by Murali Vijay, the fielder was unsighted by the man in front of him, yet managed to hang on to a skier.

But, Sathish’s silly run-out embodied Mumbai’s batting effort – lacklustre, without Sachin’s guidance. Harbhajan Singh late blast off 33 from 22 balls was just a reiteration of the fact that Mumbai had done themselves in.

There was no inkling of the disaster to follow when Mumbai were in the field. It was a near perfect bowling performance. Harbhajan, opening the bowling, got the better of in-form Vijay, with a smart, quickish delivery. Chennai’s suffered majorly because all their batsmen got starts, but none went on to convert them.

Suresh Raina briefly sparked during his 23 before the short ball got him again. The bigger blow though was dealt by the unassuming medium pace of Pollard. In the space of two deliveries he consumed Dhoni (31) Matthew Hayden (35), both perishing while going for big hits as Chennai struggled to accelerate. It should have been the turning point of the game. However, Mumbai were all too keen to change that.

Ambati Rayudu’s sensational, unbeaten 55 off a mere 29 balls and Saurabh Tiwary’s rebuilding effort of 44 from 35 balls were responsible for Mumbai Indians recovering from a mid-innings collapse and posting 178 for 5 in their game against the struggling Deccan Chargers at the Brabourne Stadium.

The total was too good for Deccan, who were never in the hunt during the chase. The entire team succumbed to 115 all out before the stipulated overs and lost by an embarrassing 63-run margin.

Despite a professional performance by the Mumbai bowlers, it has to be said that the turning point of the match was the partnership between Rayudu and Tiwary. The duo added an impressive 65 in 7.4 overs at a stage when Mumbai where crumbling after a confident start.

The home team were cruising at 53 for no loss in the seventh over when things turned murky. Pragyan Ojha had Shikhar Dhawan stumped for 14 and in his next over cleaned up the dangerous Dwayne Bravo for 2. At the other end, Rahul Sharma claimed the ever so crucial scalp of Sachin Tendukar, who was well-set on 35.

Things could have gone horribly wrong for Mumbai had Rayudu and Tiwary not held things together. Mumbai were well-aided but Deccan’s fielders and some rather poor bowling in the death overs. Tiwary was lucky to survive on more than one occasion even as the bowlers went for over 12 an over in the last five overs of the innings.

Batting sensibly, Rayudu and Tiwary were initially prepared to get themselves in, at the same time ensuring that the run-rate did not come down drastically. And, once they were in, there was no stopping them. Rahul could have had Tiwary in his return spell, instead Herschelle Gibbs deflected it over the long-on boundary.

The fact that Deccan’s best fielder came up with that effort symbolized the agony of the Chargers. As if that wasn’t enough, Monish Mishra couldn’t latch on to a low offering from the same batsman. This was after the bowler had already been lofted for a maximum.

At the other end, Rayudu had better control. He slogged Andrew Symonds for a mighty off the last ball of the 16th overs. And, things only got worse for Deccan. Ojha did manage to pick up his third wicket by ending Tiwary’s important knock, but Rayudu continued his merry ways.

Jaskaran Singh was taken for 20 off the penultimate over, which featured two dismissive fours and a beautifully lofted, inside-out six. Kieron Pollard also threw his bat around a gathered three boundaries as Mumbai ended their innings on a high.

There was nothing noteworthy to talk about in Deccan’s chase. Gibbs hit a couple of boundaries off Harbhajan Singh and Adam Gilchrist lashed Lasith Malinga for a six. That was about it though. Gibbs, Gilchrist and VVS Laxman all few before the side crossed 40. Symonds, with 21, ended up being highest score, too low even in the shortest format of the game.

R Vinay Kumar picked up three wickets in one over, that of Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu, to put the Mumbai Indians firmly on the back foot. However, the home side recovered well thanks to some lusty hitting down the order by Zaheer Khan and useful contributions from Kieron Pollard and R Sathish. 151, however, was still not going to be enough against Bangalore’s charged up batting line-up, and on a pitch that was highly batting-friendly.

Jacques Kallis continued his unbeaten run, slamming yet another 50, while Manish Pandey and continued with their big hitting spree as the Royal Challengers charged to victory without any trouble, and claimed their spot at the top of the table.

Clearly, it was that three-wicket over from Vinay Kumar that turned the tide in Bangalore’s favour. At 74 for 3 in the 11th over, Mumbai were still in the game courtesy of Sachin Tendulkar, who was looking good on 25. But, Vinay got rid of Rayudu, with a well-directed bouncer, a plan which had worked exceedingly well against the Rajasthan Royals.

Then Sachin, who was denied the strike for quite some time, was cleaned up when he shuffled too far and left his leg stump exposed. The skipper batted well for his 25, but the team needed a lot more from him on this day. If Sachin’s dismissal wasn’t bad enough, Bravo got a dose of his own medicine when an off-cutter from Vinay Kumar accounted for him. Bravo fell for one and Mumbai had slipped ton 76 for 6 in no time.

No doubt Vinay Kumar bowled a great spell, but he was greatly assisted by the ones who bowled earlier. Praveen Kumar swung the both ways and kept the Mumbai openers on their feet. At the other end, the aggressive Dale Steyn took out danger man Sanath Jayasuriya with a wonderful outswinger.

Kallis then came on and proved his merit with the ball claiming Aditya Tare, a smart bouncer doing the trick yet again. Next man Saurabh Tiwary, coming off the back of two 50s, had some troubles as well with the rising delivers, but was good enough to fend some off to the ropes. He was fooled, however, by Anil Kumble’s googly and had to be satisfied with 25.

In Mumbai did manage to cross 150, it were due to the efforts of Sathish and Pollard. Judging the situation well, they rotated the strike for a while. Towards the end, Pollard had to do what he was chosen for, some mighty hits. He managed to dispatch Praveen for a six and a four, but was unluckily dismissed as he guided a full toss from Steyn into the hands of Virat Kohli.

Sathish soon fell to a brilliant catch by Rahul Dravid in the deep. Zaheer Khan then punished Kumar’s length deliveries in the final over, claiming 16 runs.

It was far from enough though as Kallis and Pandey continued from where they left off in the previous game. The Mumbai bowlers tried their best, but there was nothing on offer for them. And, in the end, it was Bangalore did it rather royally.